


Sometimes

by kankuwu



Category: Kankuro - Fandom, Naruto, Sand Siblings - Fandom
Genre: Brotherly Fluff, Not really modern au but like, The technology level in canon is unclear, They have technology like cellphones and video games, i'm a hoe for that sibling domestic shit, kankuro and gaara bonding and just doing domestic shit man
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:35:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22684093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kankuwu/pseuds/kankuwu
Summary: A slice of life fic about the day to day of Kankuro and Gaara. Sometimes a family is just two gay goth brothers, their 500 plants, 500 puppets and a nintendo switch.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 48





	1. Switch

Kankuro guessed it was probably 8 in the morning but he had no real way of telling that. The sun had risen hours ago and was blazing against his neck, yet his shadow was still stretching across the expanse of sand before him. At the very least, it was well before noon. This would be the second day of Kankuro trekking back to Suna. The first day was just leaving his previous destination and entering the land of wind then finding a place to rest for the night. He knew he wouldn’t have that grace the second night and making it back home before the sun set was top priority. So it must still be morning, at least he hoped so.

Kankuro’s mission this time was purely diplomatic yet he felt just as exhausted as on any combat mission. Since Temari was now in Konoha, most of the diplomatic missions were split between Kankuro and a few of the other council members, to everyone’s dismay. Kankuro didn’t  _ hate _ being a diplomat. He was, for all extensive purposes, a people person most of the time. He knew how to talk, he knew how to reason. But ever since Gaara became Kazekage and  _ especially  _ since Temari left, his entire week back home was just endless meetings and papers. So it sucked to be able to travel somewhere cool just to be forced into another week of meetings and papers. Regardless, meetings or not, he was looking forward to being back home. His workshop, his bed, his little brother. It was all _home_ and he was in desperate need of that right now.

The sun was now over head and Kankuro’s shadow was all but gone. His feet heavily kicked up dust and sand as he trotted along, just a mile or so outside of the village gate. As the wall came into view, a big sigh of relief escaped Kankuro’s throat. His entire body relaxed and he took a moment to stop. His head tilted back towards the sun and he smiled, a light breeze picking up the flaps of his hat.

“Thank god,” he said, taking a deep breath before starting up again, closing the distance between him and home.

There wasn’t anyone to meet him at the gate which perhaps should have raised more suspicion. Perhaps he was just too tired to think anything else of it or perhaps his position as the right hand to the Kazekage had gone to his head. Everyone knew who he was and although he trained the guards to be more cautious of who enters and exits the village, he wasn’t going to force himself to deal with more than he wanted to. Once through the gate, he noticed something else off: there was almost no one in town. There were a few shopkeepers and civilians milling about, but he remembered the main center of the village being much more...lively. He once again summed this up to him just being tired or because it was later in the day. He also wasn’t exactly at the center of the village so perhaps this was just a misjudgment on his part. Something else for him to not think much of until he saw it. Just in the background.

A sand storm.

Perhaps...no. No. He couldn’t excuse this as him being tired anymore. This wasn’t a trick of the sun and heat messing with his head. Something wasn’t right. In fact, he was sure something was very, very wrong. Ignoring his own muscles and mind screaming for rest, Kankuro dashed in the direction of the cloud of dust pulsing in the center of town. He kicked up sand through the empty streets until he hit a wall of bodies and screaming.

It was a crowd of people. Some of them were terrified and clearly trying to get away. Others seemed excited for whatever was causing the uproar, their phones held above the crowd to catch a glimpse of the chaos. Everyone else who wasn’t screaming in terror or enjoying the spectacle, were charging through the crowd with weapons and rocks, battle cries rising above the terror.

Kankuro stood there for a moment just to understand _exactly_ what was happening. He watched as few angry men, mostly civilians, rushing through the crowd with stones in their hands only to be thrown back with a mighty push. Kankuro didn’t need to see anything else to know what he was dealing with, but as the crowd parted to make room for the stumbling makeshift soldiers, Kankuro saw him.

In the middle of the crowd was Gaara. There were a few other shinobi with him though they weren’t attacking him. Still, they didn’t seem to be on his side either. They were doing crowd control, trying to keep the people away from the Kazekage. Whether it was to protect the Kazekage or to protect the people, it was unclear. He heard shouting of the shinobi commanding people to stand back and disperse but for every command there was a wave of rage to counter it.

In the brief moments before the crowd closed back up, Kankuro could see his brother’s face. It was surprisingly calm but he could see the bubbling of anger under the surface. It wasn’t in his voice or in his expressions. It was all in his eyes and that was enough to make Kankuro force his way through.

Suddenly, pushing through a compacted mass of bodies turned into swimming against the current of running people. A giant wall of sand suddenly appeared between Gaara and the civilians. It moved slowly but with enough force to hurt _someone._ Kankuro knew this was a warning. He knew Gaara was just doing his job. He also knew that things were only going to get worse from here.

Despite the large crowd pushing against him, Kankuro made it towards the base of the wall and braced himself to get the full brunt of it. His arms made a shield in front of his chest and he closed his eyes, hoping that his grounded stance would allow him to pass through the wall relatively easily. However, a few moments passed and the hit never came. Kankuro opened his eyes and saw that the wall had actually opened up around him, creating a small door big enough for him and him alone to get through. On the other side, he could see the other shinobi and he could see his brother who was staring directly at him.

“Gaara…” he began, his arms falling at his side. The moment their eyes met, Kankuro could already see the difference in his brother’s demeanor. His eyes became more calm and as a result, the sand wall began to slowly fall into itself. “Gaara,” he said again, taking a step forward to go comfort his brother, but before he could make it through, the same angry civilians from earlier pushed him aside and charged at his brother.

“H-hey!” Kankuro yelled at them, grabbing at a few and yanking them back to the other side of the wall. The ones that slipped from his grasp were met with Gaara’s glare, that blind fury making its way back to just bubbling under the surface. The civilians were armed with large stones and began to chuck them at Gaara. Obviously, there was no harm, but Gaara’s patience was wearing thin with their persistence. It was careless thinking and an obvious power trip on his part, but Gaara decided in that moment that it would be best to show his constitutes what happens when you go against a Kage.

Kankuro watched in horror as a smaller wall of sand built up around his brother and began to break off into dull-pointed chunks. The men that were attacking him immediately backed up and fled from the scene, doing their best to squeeze their bodies through the Kankuro-sized hole in the wall at once. Kankuro pushed through them, ignoring their deafening screams in his ear.

_ Serves you right. Serves you all right! _ , he thought to himself. Gaara worked so hard to get to this position, to have these people’s respect, yet here they were, still, spitting in his face. They deserved any backlash Gaara decided to dish to them. He saved their fucking lives! More than once! He sacrificed everything for them and yet…

And yet Kankuro still rushed forward to stop his brother from making the biggest mistake of his life. In the right or not, Gaara was still the Kazekage. He still had a duty to not harm his people. And Kankuro wasn’t going to let him give that up, not like this, not on his watch.

“Gaara, stop!” He screamed just as the large sand bullets blasted away from Gaara. Most of the men had managed to squeeze through the hole with the remainder of one directly in the way of Gaara’s attack. Kankuro reached for the man, grabbing him by the shirt and yanking the man behind him. Kankuro couldn’t even close his eyes in time before a large chunk of sand hit him square in the chest. Although dull, the abrasive texture of the sand ripped through the front of his shirt and scratched at his skin. It exploded across his chest, hitting his face and scratching and his jaw and nose. Sand flew into his mouth and eyes and he fell backwards, landing on top of the civilian he was protecting.

The chaos continued to rage on behind him, civilians still screaming as they continued to escape the scene. The man underneath Kankuro pushed him off and got up, running for the exit still in the wall and disappearing.

Kankuro rolled onto his side, caving into himself. He wrapped his arms around his waist. He knew his wounds weren't serious. There wasn’t blood pouring from him, but it still hurt and shock of it all still took a minute to process. Quickly, the shinobi that were with Gaara ran to his side. Their questions were like fading echoes, just more background noise that made his already tired mind throb. He looked past them, however, trying to find his brother.

Gaara was still there in the middle. His sand was slowly closing in around him creating a protective dome between him and the rest of the world. In the few seconds before the dome closed completely, Kankuro met his brother’s eyes. They were terrified and regretful. And in a gust of dust and wind, Gaara and his dome were gone.

It was now night time in Suna and Kankuro was _finally_ home. After Gaara left, the shinobi that were left behind helped take him to the hospital. A few more showed up to help disperse the rest of the crowd and after a few more hours, the village calmed down again. The guards went back to their posts and everyone else went back home and for the remaining hours of the day, it was as if none of that had even happened.

Except it did happen, and like everything else that happened today, Kankuro voted to deal with it _tomorrow_.

Kankuro closed the door behind him. He leaned his back against the door and winced just slightly then sighed. Looking down the hall, he could see that the light to Gaara’s bedroom was on. That wasn’t exactly an indication that Gaara was home, but it was very likely if he knew his brother. He didn’t call out to him. He wasn’t angry with Gaara but he was very tired and he figured Gaara would want his space.

The night was still young so Kankuro made his way to the kitchen and made a quick dinner. He boiled some rice and started a kettle of tea, wiped off the counters and cleaned what few dishes were still there from when he left a week ago. After sitting down and eating his meal, Kankuro went up to shower, changed into his pajamas and made his way to his own bedroom.

Kankuro collapsed on his bed, wincing as he hit his mattress with too much force. He definitely wouldn’t be doing any serious combat for a while. Just the thought of that made him depressed by the lazy part of his mind was relieved. Maybe this was enough of an excuse for him to take a mini vacation and truly get a break from those wretched meetings.

He rolled over and reached into his night stand, pulling out his nintendo switch and loaded his save game. A little bit of mindless gaming was enough to wind his mind to a slow lull and before long he fell asleep with his gaming console in his hands.

Kankuro woke up to the shifting of his bed. The mattress caved in just barely as someone next to them rolled over and snuggled against his side. Kankuro didn’t need to open his eyes to know that it was Gaara. This wasn’t unusual and Kankuro felt no need to make a comment on his brother’s actions. Kankuro remembered when he was a child and how he would sneak into Temari’s room to sleep with her. They never really outgrew that trend and Kankuro had to admit, it was nice to be on the flip side of it for once.

He shifted himself, repositioning his pillow with his arm curled up under it. Another wince came as he twisted in the wrong position and Kankuro felt his brother freeze.

“I’m fine..” He mumbled sleepily. He turned his head to look at his brother. Gaara was next to him, Kankuro’s switch in his hands. His eyes were intense, worried, and remorseful. They were both silent for a moment before Gaara opened his mouth to speak. Before he could say anything, Kankuro rolled back over and mumbled that he was tired under his breath and they could talk in the morning.

“Don’t delete any of my saved games,” he said as he relaxed again. Gaara simply nodded to himself and turned his attention back to the console in his hands. The night stretched around them, enveloping the rest of the day leaving just the glow of a screen, the snoring of Kankuro and the click-clatter of buttons.


	2. Pizza Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a pizza night at the boy's house!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise, I'm still continuing this fic! Let's see how long I can keep this going! A bit of a longer one but I'm not mad about it. Also I changed the title from "Slices" it "Sometimes". I just like that one better.

They were out of food. Again.

It wasn’t fair for Kankuro to start blaming himself for being forgetful. It didn’t require a lot of food to feed two adults, especially two adults who had wildly different eating patterns. It wasn’t even fair to chastise himself for not being more prepared. Eating habits for a shinobi tended to be inconsistent, even more so in their household. Still, Kankuro opened the fridge and groaned.

That movement alone caused the wounds still healing on his chest and jaw to ache but he didn’t care enough to stop. He felt immediately overwhelmed by such a simple problem with a simple solution. He felt childish for even having to be upset over something like this, yet here he was, ready to throw a tantrum. For his own sake, he decided against lashing out and closed the fridge instead.

He didn’t know how many times he had to remind himself that this wasn’t a problem. No one was dying because he had to get out of the house for the first time in two days since he came back. The world wasn’t going to end just because he had to go to the grocery store when he didn’t want to. Everything was fine! And yet...

“Ugh, fuck! Gaara!” Kankuro groaned again, shuffling his way out of the kitchen. “Gaara! We gotta go to the store, get ready!” He didn’t get a response but he didn’t need one. He knew his brother could hear him and even if he didn’t, well he would deal with that later.

Kankuro dragged himself back to his room to change. Swiftly he reached for clothes on the floor, picking up whatever shade of black looked and smelled the cleanest. He also made a mental note that laundry would need to be done soon as well. Yay.

Kankuro didn’t usually get overwhelmed. Perhaps it was his training from being a shinobi, or being a diplomat. Or working any number of the jobs he had that didn’t have room for people being overwhelmed. It could just be his naturally calm nature and how most things to him weren’t a big deal. So the fact that he was so lackluster about wanting to leave the house for all of an hour and do something that needed to be done bothered him.

The nagging voice in his head told him that he needed to get over it and just get it done. He could rest when he got back home and then he wouldn’t have to worry about feeding him and his brother later. That voice was the voice he often listened to and was the main reason he was able to do half of the things he needed to do. But there was another smaller voice in his head that reminded him just how crazy his past few days had been.

He finished a week long diplomatic mission and tracked across the desert in under two days just to get back home. Then upon entering the village, he had to try and fail at breaking up a fight between his brother and a bunch of random  assholes citizens. And on top of that, he was injured. And now he had to go all the way across town just to buy food and do laundry and-––

Kankuro found himself frozen in place in his room. His thoughts swirling around like food in a blender. The longer he thought of each topic, the more pieces he had to work out.

He had no indication for how long he’d been standing there but a knock at his bedroom door told him it was for too long. Quickly, he slipped on the cleanest shirt he managed to find and swung the door open, coming face to face with his brother. Gaara was more or less dressed, though Kankuro frowned at seeing his brother wearing one of his hoodies over his more casual goth style.

“Is that why I can’t find any clean clothes? Because you keep stealing them?” Kankuro asked, pushing his way past Gaara and closing his door. Gaara didn’t respond. He simply flipped up the hood, showing off the cat-ear features on the jacket he “borrowed” from his brother.

Kankuro sighed. He didn’t need more things to complain about so he left it alone and led them both to the front door.

“You need to tell me sooner when we run out of food, okay? I don’t like doing things at the last minute.” There was a bit more bite to his voice than he would have liked and he cursed himself for it. Luckily, Gaara didn’t seem to notice and if he did, he didn’t seem to care. The boys slipped on their shoes, grabbed their keys and exited the house.

The brothers typically frequented the same grocery store. Kankuro didn’t see the point of going to more than one. When Temari lived with them, she often took her brothers to one store and then sent them home as she went to various others to grab everything they couldn’t grab there. Kankuro wasn’t that invested in saving a few bucks to compare every single item he needed to every single store. So one store would have to do.

The grocery store itself was small. Luckily, today it wasn’t crowded. Although not big and a bit on the expensive side, it carried everything they needed: meat, veggies, drinks, even some hygiene products. Kankuro could grimace at his receipt as much as he wanted after their trips, but it wasn’t enough to make him go somewhere else. Especially not today.

Kankuro grabbed a cart from the front and leaned his full weight on the handle. He grabbed a smaller handheld basket and tossed it into the cart as well then called for Gaara’s attention. The younger brother was looking along the window sills of the store which were mostly covered in plants. Tiny succulents and flowers that didn’t naturally grow in Suna decorated the view from the inside and out.

“Hey.” Kankuro said, pulling his cart up to Gaara’s side. “Put everything you want in that tiny basket and I’ll put all of our shared stuff in the bigger cart, alright?” Gaara once again didn’t respond with more than a nod, his focus on two tiny succulents in his hands. Kankuro sighed and left his brother near the front windows to go hunt down things they actually needed.

He started in the first aisle which was mainly produce. He picked up a few apples absentmindedly, some bananas. Maybe an orange? He shrugged and threw it in the cart. Kankuro considered perhaps it would have been better if he actually planned out a meal first. It would be nice to actually have an idea of what he needed to buy instead of walking around aimlessly hoping something would come to him. Despite this, he picked up a bag of grapes before rounding the corner and snagging a bag of chips before heading down the next aisle.

There were mostly canned goods in this aisle which Kankuro wasn’t interested in. He stared at the beans and rice on the shelf then sighed. He really should have planned out a meal first. As he took a few moments to try and come up with  _ something _ , Gaara made his way down the aisle behind him, his arms full. Kankuro truly didn’t know what he expected for his brother to grab for himself but whatever it was, it wasn’t this.

Gaara came around to the front of the cart and placed a plant maybe a foot shorter than he was into the tiny basket Kankuro designated for him. It was a split leaf philodendron and it was massive. Not the most massive plant Kankuro had ever seen but more massive than what was typical for Suna.

“Gaara...what the hell is that?” Kankuro asked in the most calm tone he could muster. Gaara struggled for a bit to get the plant to stay upright in the cart but eventually it was stable. He then littered the basket with a few baby succulents he also took a liking too.

“I have everything I need.” Gaara said. He didn’t look proud of himself but he was definitely satisfied. Kankuro hung his head in exasperation.

“Gaara. We need food. Did you forget that?”

“I thought you were gathering food for us.” Gaara said, reaching up to adjust the leaves on his new plant.

“I can’t make all of the decisions for us. Pick out something you want to eat.” 

Gaara took a slow look around the aisle they were currently in. The section they were currently standing in was mostly filled with canned goods but further down there were more options. Gaara slipped away from the cart and went to the other end of the aisle. Kankuro saw him lean down and pick up a pack of something and walk back, dropping it into his designated basket.

“Gaara.”

“Yes.”

“Fruit cups?”

“Yes.”

Kankuro internally muffled a scream. He lowered his head down to his arms still resting on the handles of the cart. Gaara managed to break his attention from his plants to his brother. He sighed to himself then looked around, down their current aisle and above at the signs hanging from the ceiling.

“We should have pizza tonight.” Gaara suggested.

Kankuro slowly lifted his head up, making eye contact with his brother. “Like, from scratch?”

Gaara shook his head then pointed at the aisle sign next to them. It was the frozen aisle advertising ice cream, frozen dinners and pizza.

“You want a frozen pizza?” Kankuro asked, skeptical. Gaara shrugged in response.

“It doesn’t matter to me.”

Kankuro agreed with his own shrug and pushed his cart over to the next aisle. They passed the desserts and TV dinners and stopped in front of the array of pizzas displayed before them. Frozen pizzas typically didn’t have a wide variety of toppings. The most you could expect to get was an all meat or maybe a sad supreme pizza. Luckily, Kankuro wasn’t that picky and so the limited options didn’t hinder him.

“Hm.” Kankuro hummed, looking at a few of the different brands. “I guess it doesn’t matter which one we get as long as we’ll both eat it.” He picked up a plain cheese then a pepperoni. He reached for the all meat option and Gaara immediately gave him a strong look.

“How about we just get like, a plain cheese pizza. Then we can buy some random toppings and make it our own, yea?” Kankuro offered.

Gaara seemed to like this plan. The youngest of the two was a picky eater. His nose scrunched up at almost every option they had despite the frozen pizzas being his idea. Kankuro grabbed the biggest plain cheese he could find then shooed Gaara down the aisle.

“Go pick out what you want to pick on the pizza so we can go home. I’ll meet you in the front.”

Gaara disappeared from the aisle. He didn’t walk away from Kankuro, he simply vanished in a swirl of sand and dust. Kankuro didn’t think using his jutsu in the middle of a store was a good idea but at least it would get them out of the store quickly. Kankuro made his way towards one final aisle to get his own toppings. He grabbed some frozen peppers on the way down the frozen aisle then walked over to the deli meats. Pepperoni. Salami. Could he put steak on a burger? It would be more work to cook the steak though…

He turned around and threw a pack of pepperoni into the cart just as Gaara was walking towards him with his own items. He threw them into the cart.

“Is that liver?” Kankuro asked. He was unsure if he should have seen this coming or not.

“You said we could make it custom.” Gaara said in defense.

“Yea with like...normal pizza stuff. Not...ugh whatever let’s just go. I’m tired.” Kankuro pushed the cart forward again. He did a u-turn to grab  _ another _ plain cheese pizza so they wouldn’t have to share one then headed for the register.

The store was basically empty and Kankuro didn’t care to question why. He started to unload his cart then walked to the other side to start bagging.

“Hey, don’t just stand there. At least pull out your wallet so we can get out of here fast enough.” He called to Gaara.

Gaara began to shift through the oversized hoodie he was wearing. He dug through the pockets in the front and in his jeans until he pulled out his wallet to pay. The transaction was mostly quiet. The cashier scanned, Kankuro bagged, and Gaara just stood there watching the total rise. Towards the end, the cashier looked up towards Kankuro to announce their total.

“Your total is…” She began. Her face contorted as if she was thinking hard about something. Her face then lit up with clarity and even excitement. “You’re Kankuro! I didn’t think I’d ever actually get to meet you in person.”

Kankuro simply smiled back. He finished bagging their sad excuse for groceries then moved over to where Gaara was standing.

“I honestly didn’t even recognize you! You look so different outside of your uniform.” She continued.

“I don’t know if I would call it a uniform but uh, thanks I guess.”

“I just, and I’m sorry if I’m intruding, but I’m so interested in your work! I’ve always thought the puppet technique was cool and you just seem like such a cool guy, y'know. It’s a shame you have such a weird brother.” She laughed.

Kankuro didn’t laugh. He was a bit appalled. Kankuro was used to hearing bad things about his brother and even himself sometimes. But he didn’t think he would meet someone so bold as to say something like that  _ in front of both of them _ . He sent a side glance over to Gaara to see what his reaction would be. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see it. And it hit him that the cashier probably couldn’t see him either.

Gaara was pretty tiny for his age. He was generally tiny for any age. The difference between him and Kankuro was very striking when they stood next to each other. Gaara, having chosen to wear Kankuro’s jacket today, was drowning in the excess fabric. The hood fell forward on his face more than it was meant to. Without any extra effort on his part, Gaara’s face had remained hidden for most of their shopping trip. 

Gaara’s reaction, if he had one, remained a secret from everyone.

Kankuro hoped the conversation would move on. He just wanted to pay and go home and not deal with mouthy teenagers voicing opinions they didn’t have any right to have. Yet the cashier continued talking.

“Like, dealing with him must still be kinda scary, huh? Like what was even going on with him the other day? Did he just go crazy or something?” 

“I don’t know. Why don’t you ask him yourself?” As if prompted, Gaara lifted his head a little bit more, revealing his red hair, forehead scar and a very emotionless stare. The cashier stuttered, her nonchalant friendly tone turning to something much more nervous.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t...um. A-are you ready to pay?” she said, her face completely red with shame. Kankuro took Gaara’s wallet and handed her their cash. “Um, please enjoy your day.”

“Yea, same.” Kankuro said, taking the receipt from her. This time, Gaara took the cart, pushing it out of the store.

The brother’s finally made it home. After kicking off his shoes, Kankuro made his way to the kitchen to put their ingredients and frozen pizzas away for later. He opened the bag of grapes he had gotten and started to munch away. He waited for Gaara to come and join him, but after removing his own shoes, Gaara made a beeline down the hall carrying his giant plant with him.

Kankuro sighed. He popped a few grapes into his mouth then grabbed the fruit cups Gaara picked and followed his brother. Their rooms were right next to each other, Gaara’s being the first one in the hall. Kankuro stopped in front of the closed door and knocked. He didn’t wait long for an answer, not that he would get one, then opened the door.

Gaara’s room wasn’t a typical room. Since he didn’t need to sleep, there was a clear absence of a bed. His room was painted a bright citrus color as if to reflect the Suna sun. Placed in every corner, from the ceilings to the window sill, were plants of every size and shape. Gaara was in the far left side of the room, attempting to re-pot his new philodendron. Kankuro watched him struggle for a few moments to lift the plant into its new pot. Gaara eventually succeeded and started to fill the rest of it with soil.

“Hey, Gaara?” Kankuro said.

Gaara didn’t stop what he was doing. He glanced up at Kankuro to confirm he was listening and kept working.

“Hey, about what happened in the grocery store. Don’t let that get to you, okay?”

“I’m not.” Gaara said, shoveling more dirt from the floor into his pot.

Kankuro didn’t push it further. If Gaara said he was okay, he would leave it alone for now and let his brother work out his own feelings. Before leaving, he opened the pack of fruit cups and pulled one out. He rolled it across the floor towards his brother’s feet.

“I’ll start cooking the pizzas in a little bit, alright? Don’t starve before then.”

Gaara nodded in response but didn’t stop what he was doing. Kankuro nodded back then closed the door behind him.

An hour passed before Kankuro decided to cook the pizzas. He started with Gaara’s, resisting the urge to make just one normal pizza and instead actually cooking the liver that Gaara picked out. While he waited for it to cook, he started on his own pizza, topping it with peppers and pepperoni, and slipped it into the oven. Once his was out of the oven and Gaara’s was in, Kankuro went back to Gaara’s room and knocked on the door.

“Hey, Gaara? The pizzas are almost done. Come out and eat.” His brother didn’t come right away and Kankuro wasn’t worried about it.

He made his way back to the kitchen and grabbed one of the last sodas they still had in the fridge. Just as Gaara’s pizza dinged that it was ready, Gaara also made an appearance in the kitchen, still sporting Kankuro’s hoodie.

“Hey,” Kankuro began, setting Gaara’s pizza next to his on the stove. “So I was thinking, why don’t we watch a movie tonight? Since we didn’t get to do it the other night.”

Gaara sat down at the table. He leaned one elbow on the surface and rested his cheek on his hand, staring at his brother. “Sure,” he said.

“You can pick it this time, if you want. I don’t even remember who’s turn it was anyway.” Kankuro cut off a few slices from both pizzas and brought them to the table. He went back to grab his own soda and one for Gaara as well.

Gaara wrapped his hands around the cold metal of the soda can, pulling it closer to him. He popped the top and took a small sip.

“Pizza and a movie sounds good,” Gaara said.

“Yea.”

Kankuro picked up one of his own slices and took a big bite of it, gooey cheese stretching between him and his hand. Gaara picked at hhis pizza. He pulled off one of the toppings and nibbled at it.

“Gaara, I know you said you don’t wanna talk about what happened at the grocery store––”

“I said it didn’t bother me.” Gaara said. He grabbed a full slice this time.

“I know,” Kankuro continued. “But I do think we need to talk about what happened two days ago when I got back. Is it okay if we do that?”

Gaara took a bite out of his pizza. “I guess.”

Kankuro took a deep breath. “I just want to know what happened. I’m not mad at you, Gaara. I’m just concerned.”

“There’s nothing to be concerned about.”

“Yes, there is.” Kankuro continued. “Gaara, you almost hurt people the other day. I know that you have more self control than that and I just, I just need to be sure that you understand what happened and that it can’t happen again.”

Gaara remained silent.

“We worked really hard to get you where you are now, Gaara. I shouldn’t have to tell you this. We came a long way from where we used to be and you can’t just throw that all away because of a few assholes.”

Gaara met Kankuro’s gaze then. “ _ I _ worked very hard to get here.”

“That doesn’t give you the right to decide to just throw it away!” Kankuro said.

“I’m not.”

“Then what the hell was that?” Kankuro pushed. “Tell me what the fuck happened that made you almost hurt your own citizens!”

Gaara’s hand gripped his soda can. The metal began to cave in. “I was just frustrated.”

“About what?”

“Nothing.”

“It's not nothing.” Kankuro insisted, his own frustation getting the best of him.

“It is nothing.”

“Gaara!”

“I was alone, that’s why!” Gaara stood up. A tiny burst of sand crushed his soda can and sent the liquids across the table. He was breathing heavily. His hand was sticky and scraped from his destroyed can. Kankuro didn’t move, not yet. He spent the past two days waiting for Gaara to finally open up and say something about what happened and now it was all spilling out. Literally.

Gaara looked at the mess he made then sat back down. He curled in his seat, pulling his knees up to his chest and burrowing deeper into Kankuro’s jacket. “I’m sorry, Kankuro.” he said.

Kankuro nodded. “It’s okay, Gaara. I just wanted to know what was going on.”

Gaara shook his head. “It’s not okay. It was frustrating not having you here with me. After Temari left, I realized that one day I would have to be here all alone again. That I would have to do this by myself. And then you left on your mission and I thought I could handle it. I was wrong.” He lowered his head into the jacket, resting his forehead on his knees.

Kankuro reached across the table and brushed his brother’s hair. “Hey. Hey, come on, we don’t need any of that.”

Gaara looked up to see Kankuro smiling at him, his hand still stretched across the table.

“I’m not going to leave you, Gaara. No matter what, alright? I might be gone for awhile sometimes but don’t think you can keep me away forever.”

Gaara reached out and grabbed his brother’s hand in his. He received a light squeeze in return.

“I’m sorry I hurt you. I didn't mean to do that.” Gaara said.

Kankuro shrugged. “Even if you did, it would take more than that to keep me from being your big brother, alright? I just want us to keep working on you being as stable as possible. No more freak outs. If you feel like something isn’t right, I want you to get away from wherever you are and wait for me and we’ll figure it out together, got it?”

Gaara nodded.

“Good. Now, let’s take these pizzas to the living room and watch a movie.”

“Can I still pick?” Gaara asked. He went to the sink to grab a paper towel and clean up his mess.

Kankuro nodded, “Only if you get to the living room first,” and dashed from the table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gaara: i want a liver pizza  
> Kank: say sike rn
> 
> I know I said things would get more fluffy after chapter one but I had to resolved what happened last chapter! I needed to show a bit more of Gaara being vulnerable because he's probably gonna be a little gremlin from here on out lmao 
> 
> i have a lot more domestic adventures planned for the boys that don't have any underlying drama attached to them but feel free to give me some ideas of what you wanna see the boys do!
> 
> also pls leave kudos and comments! i love seeing that you guys are enjoying this!


	3. Stars Across the Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Kankuro's birthday!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit its been a while, I'm so sorry! I really had big plans for this fic and a few other projects but then this pandemic hit and I got hella stressed out about it lol. Im also an essential worker so outside of the stress, I just didn't have the time to spit out chapters like I wanted unu
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys are well and safe and practicing social distancing and all of that good stuff! I hope this chapter will help distract/destress some of you during this terrifying time and I'll see you guys with the next chapter (hopefully sooner than 3 months lmao)

His brother was going to be back soon. Every Friday afternoon for the past 6 months or so, the brothers did their best to spend a few uninterrupted hours together. Living together seemed like it would have given them more than enough bonding time. But because of their constant work, missions, and personal projects, they were shocked by how little they actually got to see each other. So Gaara waited in the common area of their house, legs crossed at the knees as he sat on the couch. Kankuro had prepared lunch for both of them but Gaara decided to take this chance to get his first meal of the day in.

As he snacked, his foot tapped against a box sitting at his feet. It was hardly wrapped, with nothing more than a ribbon bow on top. Gaara wasn’t any better at preparing presents than he was at picking them out. But he made the effort.

Today was Kankuro’s birthday. He knew that, his brother knew that. He was sure the entire village knew that considering his brother’s widespread popularity. As the minutes ticked on, he was sure the reason his brother was so late at getting home was due to having to fight off his many friends and admirers who wanted to celebrate with him. Maybe he was stuck at a bar drinking with friends. Maybe he was signing autographs. Maybe he was...hmm. Gaara struggled to think of more scenarios for his brother’s birthday adventures that weren’t too ridiculous. He could see his brother spending the morning volunteering at an orphanage. He’s done it before. Or maybe, he was spending time by himself, taking a moment to enjoy his own day.

Whatever his brother was up to, Gaara hoped he would arrive soon. Although he didn’t have any other plans for the day, he did not want to spend hours sitting on this couch.

Over the span of a few more sips of tea, Gaara saw the door push open. His brother almost stumbled inside, his gaze behind him as he waved goodbye to his former company. When the door closed, Kankuro spent a moment too long staring at the floor before he looked up at a Gaara. His cheeks flushed pink and he was happy.

“Gaara! You waited for me!” Kankuro exclaimed. He clumsily shot his arms out in a brief hug movement as if he was surprised.

“We always spend this time together on the weekend.” Gaara explained. He stood up from his seat, setting his snacks down on the table. “I wouldn’t abandon you without warning.”

“But..I’m so late.” Kankuro countered with a pout. He didn’t bother to look at a clock to confirm if he was late or not. He simply accepted the assumption that he messed up. Gaara walked over to him, deciding to help his brother enter the house as he seemed glued in the walkway.

“How the tables have turned, I guess.” He helped his brother out of his jacket. After Kankuro kicked off his shoes, he gently pushed his brother further into the common room. “Are you drunk, Kankuro?”

“I am tipsy. There’s a difference.” Kankuro laughed. He stood upright to his full height and took a deep breath. “I went to the bar with my friends. They wouldn’t let me leave. They kept giving me so many drinks and then I had to pay for them! Heh, assholes.” Kankuro collapsed on the couch, his arms thrown over the back. “I’ll get them on their birthdays.”

“Well, hopefully you're not too incapcitated to accept my gift.” Gaara said.

Kankuro’s head shot up, his eyes wide with surprise. “You got me a gift! Gaara!” He reached out his arms, making grabbing motions with his hands. “Gimme!”

Gaara bent down and picked up the box next to his brother’s feet. Since the gift wasn’t wrapped, there was no big reveal. He was almost surprised his brother didn’t notice it when he sat down.

“It’s a galaxy lamp. You said you’ve been wanting one so happy birthday.”

Kankuro almost looked like he could cry. He was starting to sober up but his emotions were still slightly heightened by the alcohol. “Gaara, this is so cool! We have to try it out now!”

“Now?” Gaara asked. He looked out the window. “The sun is still up. I don’t think it will be fun right now.”

“We can close the curtains and turn off the lights! Come on!” He started to tear into the box, ripping at the cardboard and tape barbarically. “This is going to be so cool!”

Gaara shrugged and went to close the curtains around the house, trusting his brother that it was have the same effect. When he returned to his brother’s side, Kankuro managed to dump the contents onto the floor and was busy putting it together and looking for an outlet close enough to them. Gaara decided to take a seat on the floor with him.

“To be honest, brother, I don’t really get the appeal of this.”

“What do you mean?” Kankuro asked. The slur in voice was all but gone and his hands were moving at the speed of a sober mechanic. “It’s like a galaxy in your house.”

“Yes, but the point is the project stars and constellations onto your ceilings. Suna has a very good view of the sky all year long. If you wanted to look at the stars, why can’t we just go to the roof.”

His brother had good points but Kankuro refused to offer any more agreement than a sigh. “It’s not about just watching the stars, yknow. It’s like having the experience without having to leave your bed. Or when the stars aren’t out. What if it rains?”

Gaara rested his chin on his knees. “I don’t remember the last time it rained in Suna.”

“Gaara. Stop being a killjoy and go turn off the light, yea?” Kankuro leaned over to the side and plugged the lamp into the wall. Gaara shrugged and went to flip the light switch. He decided to give up on his assertion that this lamp would be pointless. It didn’t matter if he wouldn’t enjoy it, his brother would or at least wanted the chance to.

Once the lights were off, Kankuro wasted no time turning the lamp on. Immediately the ceiling and walls were lit up in a blue galaxy. The lamp began to spin and with it the projected images danced like clouds across a sky.

“Whoa.” Kankuro whispered. Even Gaara was a bit impressed.

“Okay, now we have to lay down.” Kankuro said as he grabbed a pillow and placed it under his head on the floor. He looked at Gaara expectantly.

Gaara raised a nonexistent eyebrow. “Why are we laying on the floor?”

“We have to get the full experience. Come on!”

Again, Gaara met his brother’s request with a sigh but cooperated anyway. He grabbed a pillow off the couch and lay down opposite his brother, their heads pointing towards each other near the lamp.

“Isn’t this actually kinda cool tho? Like it's not the real thing but, it’s just as calming. Makes you wanna just lay here and chill.” Kankuro said. He grabbed the remote for the lamp and began to change the color of the galaxy. The scene shifted from blue to yellow to green before landing on purple. “Cool.”

Gaara stared at the ceiling for a moment as his brother played with the settings. “The lack of realism is a bit disappointing. I’ve never seen a green night sky before but I am starting to see the appeal. It’s enjoyable.”

Kankuro simply hummed in agreement as he continued to flip through the various color options and patterns in the lamp. A silence spread between them but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It just was. Gaara turned his head to peek at his brother, only being able to catch a glimpse of his hair from above him.

“Kankuro?”

“Yea?”

“Do you regret being my brother?”

Kankuro didn’t stop playing with the settings of the lamp as he answered, giving a nonchalant shrug that couldn’t be seen. “It’s kinda hard to regret something you didn’t have a choice in, yknow?”

“Hmm.” Gaara mumbled. He turned his head back to the ceiling. “I see.”

Kankuro sighed and dropped the remote. His hands came up and rubbed against his face before traveling to rest behind his head. “I don’t regret us being brothers because it wasn’t my choice for us to be related. It’s just something that happened and now we’re here. I don’t think there’s anything I could have done to stop us from being brothers.”

“If you could change it, somehow, would you?”

“Hell no.” Kankuro almost laughed. “We worked too hard to get where we are now. And now you’re more than just my little brother, you’re my best friend. I can’t just go and change that.” Gaara hummed in response.

“Why are you being so weird today, huh? Is there something bothering you?” Kankuro tried to look at his brother this time, doing his best to contort enough to get a glimpse of the other man without sitting up completely.

“I’ve been thinking,” Gaara started, “about what your life would be like if we weren't brothers. What would you be doing right now on your birthday instead of this. Would it be better?”

“Gaara–” Kankuro started but Gaara interrupted him.

“Despite it being a long time ago, I am still very sorry for what I put you and Temari through. I feel like there is nothing I can do to make it right, not even now.”

“Gaara, I...” Kankuro started but didn’t know how to finish. He twisted back to his original position, hands now resting over his chest. “Obviously, I forgive you. I forgave you a long time ago so you don’t need to worry about that anymore. But I understand why you still think about it. I...still think about it.”

The brothers shared a sigh that was audible only through Kankuro’s lips.

“I really wanted to hate you back then. I feel like I kinda did? You just made my life such a living hell. And the worst part is that it wasn’t even because we were special. The entire village had the same experience.”

“Wouldn’t it have been more cruel for me to single you out?” Gaara asked.

“Maybe but...I don’t know. I think it would have made it feel more reasonable. Like I personally did something to you and not just I exist so I'm offensive.”

“It...wasn’t exactly like that.”

“I know.” Kankuro said. “That’s just what it felt like. Like there was nothing I could do to make it right. Just as long as I existed, as long as the village existed, you were gonna keep being that way.”

Another silence fell between them, this time much heavier than the first. Kankuro grabbed the remote again, this time trying to give himself something to focus on. Gaara watched as the patterns shifted again and a few new color changes appeared. Pink. Red. Orange. Now blue.

“We’ve never talked about this before.”

Kankuro shrugged. “It didn’t really seem important.”

“I want to know how you both feel. We’re brothers now but...” Gaara brought his hand to his chest, placing it over his heart. “I can say that I forgive our father and uncle for the decisions they made. I can continue to work with the council despite how they view me. But I’ve also learned that forgiveness doesn’t mean healing. Sometimes, if I focus on it too much, it still hurts. So I try not to think about it.”

Kankuro shifted uncomfortably behind Gaara.

“Do you try not to think about me, Kankuro?”

“Jeez, Gaara.” Kankuro sighed. Once again his hands came to his face, rubbing at his temples. “This isn’t the birthday talk I was looking forward to.”

“I’m sorry.” Gaara said.

“It’s fine.” Kankuro said. He sighed, twirling the remote between his fingers.

“You know, the funny thing about not being able to choose your family is that on some level, it makes you feel less lonely. After dad died, I became extremely aware of how small our family had become. Just the idea of it just being me and Temari left. It was heartbreaking.”

“But then I remembered you and we started to get closer over time. Suddenly, it felt like our family was growing again even though it didn’t. The number stayed the same but we strengthened that bond and now it feels like we’re a whole family.”

Gaara smiled. “I also feel like I gained family from you.”

Kankuro smiled as well. The lights on the ceiling continued to spin around them, mapping out constellations they didn’t think were real. But it didn’t matter. Realism or not, the brothers were enjoying this moment together.

“You’re a really good brother, Gaara. I love you. Don’t forget that.” He sat up and turned to look down at Gaara. His smile wide and sincere. Gaara smiled back, a light blush covering his cheeks.

“Thank you, Kankuro. You’re also a good brother.” He sat up as well but continued until he was on his feet. “I’m glad you enjoyed your gift.. Thank you for sharing it with me.”

“Thanks for buying it.” Kankuro powered off the lamp and stood up to stretch. “Fuck, I need to eat. Let’s have lunch.”

“I already had it.” Gaara said. He grabbed his plate and forgotten tea and proceeded to walk to the kitchen.

“Dude, what the hell!”

“I’ll make it up to you with dinner on the roof. With real stars and more fun talks.” He said, opening the curtains and letting the light flood back into the house.

Kankuro pouted. “Am I cooking this dinner?”

“Of course.”

Kankuro snorted. "Figures.”

**Author's Note:**

> this was originally a gift for my girlfriend but i'm very tempted to turn this into a bigger thing. there's nothing more i love than some brotherly fluff


End file.
